As a longtime twEATer, I live to both eat and tweet. Most of the people who I communicate with on Twitter are other foodies, top chefs, food and wine bloggers and wine enthusiasts. I am going to share some of my top tips for successful Twitter engagement.
Now you have a Twitter account, what’s next?
If you don’t read any further, do this on Twitter: To build great Twitter relationships: Consistent communication makes a big impact with those you follow and those who follow you.
Below, are my 9 Best Tweeting Tips this Halloween season to build a rabid fan base of food and wine followers:
9. Retweeting (RT) is the easiest way to communicate on Twitter because you do not have to create, but just curate content. You can either copy and paste or simply click the Retweet button. Look for things that are newsworthy or useful to your followers. If you have a winery perhaps retweet a news story about how the weather is affecting the vines this season. Use this technique often, but not too often. Retweets should supplement your original tweets.
8. Participate in Follow Fridays (#FF) , this is another easy tactic that requires very little effort. Simply make a tweet of your favorite tweeters and tell your other followers to follow them. A little description with only a select few is more valuable then just a list of people. For example:
#FF our favorites of the week that made us laugh: @Foodie1 @Foodie2
7. Involve other local businesses in your tweets, especially if they are non-competitive and compliment your offer. If you are a winery, mention (@) the bed and breakfast down the street in your tweet and recommend them. The B&B will then, most likely, mention you and you will become a Twitter team by forming an unofficial strategic alliance.
6. Post pictures on Twitter of what you are working on: a new dish in the kitchen or a glass of wine you just opened up. Write a short description to accompany it so people know what they are opening. To upload photos to Twitter, follow this link to directions: https://support.twitter.com/articles/20156423-about-image-uploading-on-twitter .
5. Specials and promotions. This is something simple that you can and should do frequently. If someone wanted to know your specials in the past perhaps they would walk in and look at your chalkboard or wait for the waiter to remember to tell them. Not anymore: post it on Twitter.
4. Pull the Curtain Back: Let your followers be part of the restaurant and winery process. Many people are not restaurateurs or winemakers but they would like to be; they are curious about the life. Post things about the kitchen meals, working on getting your liquor license, or any of the other behind-the-scenes processes.
3. Also ask your followers for help, but only if you are willing to accept it, don’t use it as a marketing ploy. For example: What would you love to see on the menu this season?
2. Have real conversations with people on Twitter. Read the Timeline and participate. If someone asks a question in the Twitterverse, you should be the person to answer it. When someone asks a question about wine pairings, consider it your golden opportunity to shine. Answer the question. Mention them (@) and don’t be the first to end the conversation. If they say “thank you” then you should respond:
You’re welcome @winequestions, let me know if you ever have any more wine pairing questions.
1. Run contests for your followers with prizes. Bridge the connection from a digital relationship to an offline relationship. Tweet something like this:
The first 10 people to come in the winery and say the word “Riesling” get a specially crafted wine flight on us.
If you tweet it, the food and wine tweeters will follow!
Side note: You can send a minimum of 10 tweets a day, trust me, once you start you will become addicted and want to do more. The more you do, the better! Remember, you are still a business so only use abbreviations when you are in a character crunch and try to make these wink and happy face free tweets.